Microspace. Universe. Lore.

Megacorporation

Grumann-Knight are the main manufacturer for the American armed forces, producing all manner of things from sidearms to starfighters. They have manufacturing bases around Venus and some on the border to the Rimward Territories; closer to the resources needed for the production of advanced ships and weaponry.

Their most well-known product is the X-33 Scimitar, a popular fighter with US Armed Forces.

Advers-iTec (like Page-Turner) is a corporate entity with a play-on-words in the title. Most of the group’s products and services are around personal protection and armoured vehicles. They also offer bodyguards, exploration guides and escort to and from areas of risk.

Several defence and energy companies banded together to exploit the myriad opportunities at the advent of human Faster-Than-Light travel under the banner of Blackmane. They became one of the big beasts of the arms industry. The group used their combined expertise in the construction and maintenance of American warships capable of FTL travel. Profiting from this growth industry rapidly catapulted them to so-called ‘megacorporation’ status.

They are also known for being the first corporation to be targeted by Page-Turner, who managed to degrade Blackmane with acts of espionage, sabotage and other dirty, corporate tricks. This led to a decline in their stocks, shareholder revolt and a near capitulation of their business which was only halted by their central role in the Linear Cannon Project.

This gave the corporation a much needed shot in the arm and they went onto produce a variety of fighting ships, from fightercraft to capital-scale. The impressive offensive capabilities mean Blackmane ships are favoured by pirates and other malcontents, though the company (of course) denies marketing their products in this way.

The Page-Turner Corporation came into existence at the end of the Second Age. It joined the hierarchy of the massive – so-called ‘Mega’ – corporations dealing everything from coffee shops to fusion reactors.

A mere minnow at it’s inception, Page-Turner was small enough to out-manoeuvre and out-react it’s rivals. It’s first coup came in the shape of Dr. Tara Whittaker and her staff, the leading experts in fusion reactions. She spent several years at Blackmane, developing profitable upgrades to reactor design. Following a number of high profile corporate defections during the First Age, the majority of talented scientists under private contract were kept under lock and key. Dr. Whittaker was no exception, residing in a luxury orbital lab and living complex around Venus. Protected by mercenary warships and soldiers, the lab was deemed impenetrable. Then one day the silent alarm was tripped.

Blackmane security arrived to find chaos and confusion. When they eventually contacted the captain of the mercenary guard, news was grim. Whittaker was missing. And the mercenary captain, a man fat from years of corporate security work, pointed the finger of blame in one direction. The Agency.

The Agency had long been a bogeyman used by superstitious mercenaries, soldiers and bandits. Blamed for misfortune, for the battles lost that should have been won. Blackmane’s first impulse was to ignore the man’s story. But the more they looked into the incident, the more they become convinced a regular group of people couldn’t have unknit their security to adroitly.

The Blackmane investigation was halted by the assistant to the corporation’s CEO who, off the record, confirmed the existence of the Agency (a little known fact) and it’s involvement. The assistant made it clear the corporation was cutting it’s losses on Whittaker. Within weeks she came into the employ of Page-Turner.

And this became the business model of Page-Turner. The use of the Agency to kidnap scientists who could essentially give the corporation a commanding market share in a brand new speciality. The main mystery was how Page-Turner attained initial and on-going funding to secure the expensive expertise of the Agency.

Blackmane attempted to re-acquire Whittaker months later. The mission was brief, bloody and unsuccessful, the few mercenary survivors were convinced someone had leaked their attack plan. Page-Turner Security had predicted their every move with a spooky prescience.